The first data on the nesting biology of the invasive blue nest-renting wasp, Chalybion turanicum (Gussakovskij, 1935) (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae, Sceliphrinae) in the Crimea

Abstract

The nesting biology of Chalybion turanicum (Gussakovskij, 1935) has been studied, with a total of 31 nests being examined. All studied nests were located inside the old nest cells of Sceliphron destillatorium (Illiger, 1807). Each nest of Ch. turanicum consisted of a single cell. Females hunted for spiders, with 18 species in five families being identified among their prey. Two most abundant victim groups were Theridiidae (eight species, 54% of specimens) and Araneidae (seven species, 33% of specimens) spiders. A spider number stored in a cell varied from five to 31 (mean = 17.6 ± 5.4). In the Crimea, Ch. turanicum has one generation per year with reproductive success of 67%. Two species of the nest parasites were reared from cells of Ch. turanicum: Chrysis taczanovskii Radoszkowski, 1876 and Acroricnus seductor (Scopoli, 1786). Chalybion turanicum is the seventh invasive species of Sphecidae naturalized in Europe. Acta Biologica Sibirica 6: 571–582 (2020) doi: 10.3897/abs.6.e57911 https://abs.pensoft.net Copyright Alexander V. Fateryga et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. RESEARCH ARTICLE 572 Alexander V. Fateryga et al. / Acta Biologica Sibirica 6: 571–582 (2020)